The present invention relates to an improved reagent, method and kit for detecting explosives selected from nitro aliphatic compounds such as nitro methane, nitro ethane, and nitro propane.
The use of home-made, improvised explosives has been growing rapidly recently, and these improvised explosives include nitro aliphatic-based explosives, like nitro methane. These nitro aliphatic compounds are readily available in the market and easily converted to form an explosive mixture as strong as the standard explosives used today.
Methods and test kits for detecting explosives selected from nitro aromatics, organic nitrates, nitramines, inorganic nitrates, chlorates and bromates, have been described by Margalit in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,296,380 and 5,480,612. Neither of these patents, however, describes detection of nitro aliphatic-based explosives.